


Peaceful Dreams to Come

by ilyena_sylph, Merfilly



Series: DreamVerse [7]
Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-09
Updated: 2014-09-09
Packaged: 2018-02-16 18:17:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2279892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilyena_sylph/pseuds/ilyena_sylph, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The big showdown comes to a point, and then the rest remains.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Peaceful Dreams to Come

It started off good. Robin agreed to use his team to hold a perimeter, though Superboy and Wonder Girl both looked unhappy at the idea. Nightwing took his team in with Slade on point. There had been merry havoc as the complex exploded in violence between the Titans and the mooks.

It had all looked like it was going to wrap up in a neat little package, until another force appeared.

The _other_ Luthor. Grodd. Savage. Assorted henchmen and minor players in the game… though Double Dare took notice of Nightwing and opted to give up their paycheck instead of face him when there were ugly rumors floating around about Blockbuster's sudden turn for the worse.

Young Justice was the first obstacle for the new team of players, and they fell into the fight with all their heart and bravado, directed by Robin, to try and buy the Titans inside more time to regroup and ready for the second, larger threat.

Flash was outside before Robin's yell across the comms even faded, cracking people across the back of the head as he raced between them, heading for Grodd. "Y'know," he said in a tone intended to be heard across the battlefield, "I didn't think even you were dumb enough to stick your head up where Terminator could try and take it off. You sure you don't want to just turn yourself in now, 'cause I can work with that, y'know?" 

"Foolish human," Grodd snapped, readying a gun that did not look anything like the others Flash had seen him use before. This one was his pride and joy, and he blocked Flash's attempt to take it from him, knowing the speedster as well as the speedster knew him. He had his finger on the trigger, and as he pulled…

… the weapon backfired, sparked, and started decidedly melting down from the stick? arrow? that Impulse had shoved in its barrel on a blur of white and red speed.

"Don't get so close when they are expecting us, wouldya?" Bart yelled back at his elder mentor before continuing to try and disarm as many mooks as he could.

Flash snorted and darted off to the side, avoiding a swing from the entirely furious gorilla. At least he did know how to deal with Grodd, unlike some of the others.

Inside, Nightwing was bouncing from mook to mook, enjoying the arrays of exposed ducting that let him flip between spots of violence. He was barely managing to keep an eye on the fight Joker and Black Canary were having, or the one between Troia and Luthor in yet another battlesuit. 

Deathstroke's mere presence was being felt in the token resistance from some of the mooks… until Mercy and Hope decided to take him on, and he had to concentrate more on his own fight. The pair worked well as a team, were as swift as Troia, and nearly as strong. Also, they had little in the way of a code against the dirtiest, nastiest fighting he'd dealt with since sparring his late wife.

Nightwing was the one to notice the tattoos on the necks of some of his fallen foes, a mark he'd seen too many times before, and realized the mooks were reinforced by League of Assassin thuggees. That left the distinct possibility of Talia, or one of the upper lieutenants, being involved.

"Robin," he warned into his comm, "thuggees in here." 

"Great," Robin snapped between calls to his team, "Good luck, we're busy!" 

"Getting Tempest out to you," he promised, having already pointed him out that way. The thuggees wouldn't be here without one of their leaders, where... Where? 

Most of the fighting was meeting them on the ground… his eyes flicked out and up, as if prepping for his next soaring move, and barely caught the glint of a sharp edge. He let his eyes go on past, processing the impression. Broadhead arrow tip, and with Arsenal having taken up a well defended corner to cover his team from, it wasn't him. Granted, Arsenal rarely used broadheads, especially with human opponents, because of the risk of arterial bleeding. 

Merlyn? Merlyn was highly placed in the LoA, and last reports still had him loyal to Talia's faction.

And Talia had been close to Luthor for a while. Alright. Time to tangle with an archer. Or tangle up the man, preferably. He moved, flipping towards another piece of ducting, and whipped himself around it. In the air, he flung a wing-ding at the man drawing down on -- Canary? 

That it was Canary, not Roy, given what Nightwing could call up in his mind, was one more piece to file away. He'd ask later, maybe, after the fight. 

The bow changed angle immediately, and an arrow knocked the wing-ding off course in the next heartbeat. Merlyn had been acknowledged as the best archer in the entire world before Green Arrow took that title away. And it was said Roy was even better than his mentor, putting Arsenal at risk if Merlyn broke from Nightwing's attempt to capture him. Merlyn's hatred for anyone called 'better' at the bow was too well-known.

This was going to be a challenge. He took a slow breath in mid-air and started planning his trajectory. Staying where those arrows weren't was going to take every bit of skill he'd gained training against Roy. He sent another wing-ding flying, this one a 'screamer' -- the noise would tell Arsenal and Deathstroke both that he'd found trouble, though it wasn't likely to have a lot of luck against Merlyn, not when he'd drawn on Canary. 

There was a muffled curse from the direction of the enemy archer, Nightwing noted; Merlyn was smart enough to know he'd been marked to the team. That meant moving, and Merlyn fired off two arrows in rapid succession. One was aimed where Nightwing had been and the other was only narrowly avoidable in the dodging maneuver Nightwing had thrown himself into.

Merlyn did stay high, refusing the floor, even when a clear area presented itself. Was it a matter of keeping the high angle, or was there something they had missed about the floor? Non-conductive surface, so not electricity, no water sources visible for flooding it… and Flash had already warped the control knobs on every gas cannister in the place to render them unopenable. 

That didn't mean they couldn't be punctured, but gasses rose. It was more likely the need for a high angle against Canary, to stay out of her direct range, and baffled by the ducts from her voice.

Likely but not certainly, and he stuck that worry in the back of his head as he bounced off a stack of crates and flicked another wing-ding in Merlyn's direction, followed by another aimed more towards his feet as quick as he could. Staying in motion was his best defense -- and getting closer to the archer. 

Wait. Could he cut that bowstring? Worth the thought, fling to miss and have it boomerang. Have to be carefully timed or it wouldn't be taut... 

Merlyn had to scramble to maintain his catwalk position after the second one aimed at his feet; he wasn't as quick on things below the waist? However, he was quick enough to put another arrow in the air… puncturing the duct closest to Nightwing's head to release a puff of hyper-cold air in a fog.

Ow! Not as bad as a freeze ray, but OW! He winced, dropped hard, and pulled another wing-ding. He aimed low to see if he could make him scramble again, lose his footing just long enough to delay the shot already headed his way, and threw a returning one. 

Merlyn was predictable in this moment, lining up that double shot he seemed to favor as quickly as he could… and the razor sharp wing-ding took the string between the pair of shots. A traditionalist like Connor and Oliver, Merlyn's longbow became nothing more than a staff. The added benefit of it was that the top arm had snapped back, catching the archer a passing blow to the face.

With the bow out of commission, Nightwing headed for that catwalk as fast as he could move. If Merlyn got that bow re-strung, it wasn't gonna end well for anybody. Question was, _did_ he fight with it as a staff? 

The answer, as Nightwing became a more direct threat, was 'no' as the bow was flung out and Merlyn drew a blade instead. That was a standard League of Assassins' trick at least!

"You are as annoying as your father figure!" Merlyn informed his foe, careful of his footing now that range had been taken from him.

"Thanks!" Nightwing said cheerfully, escrima sticks in either hand as he kept his ears open for thugees behind him. "I'd hope so!" 

On this level, Merlyn had little hope of winning. He did try, using several close-in fighting tricks to try and knock Nightwing off the upper level. As soon as the knife went flying, he cursed and swiftly backpedaled to try and get off the catwalk, into the milling thuggees still on their feet for some hope of escape.

Nightwing wasn't having that, and he caught him with a couple of quick bounds and a judo throw that left him enough limbs to tie the assassin to the catwalk with several zip-strips. Now, what chaos could he toss into things from here? 

Outside, the fight that should have been woefully against the youngest hero team was going just splendid for Robin, somewhat to his surprise. Tempest had thrown some kind of temporal wave towards Vandal Savage, fouling his weaponry as well. Some of the goons answering to this batch had been caught in that wave as they arrived behind their fearless leaders had lost all interest in the fight on discovering that most of the inorganic materials they had possessed had been aged to brittle instability.

Kon was still laughing about the ones tripping over broken shoes or falling in a tangle of pants that no longer had metal zippers and buttons. Or maybe that had been the streaker who had evidently only worn synthetic fibers to the fight. It looked like laughter had him doubled over -- but that was to get his hands on the ground they were all standing on, Robin realized, as other pieces of clothing started going flying and tangling up their wearers. 

Arrowette and Empress were taking down mooks in twos and threes, while Wonder Girl was tangling with a pair he vaguely recognized from the files of Wonder Woman's problems. 

Impulse and Flash had figured out a way to work together, each creating a strong wind-wake, but at angles to one another. It was being highly effective at keeping all the players on the field contained, and kept knocking down Grodd.

Tempest was holding his own, and Robin filed away that the senior Titan was a long way from just manipulating water and temperature. Savage was Tempest's focus, Robin noted, and Secret had joined the sorcerous Titan. He wasn't sure what she was doing, but suspected she was manipulating the mystic energies around them to feed Tempest's spells. That left Robin to consider the prime mover of all of this, the Luthor wearing burnished gold armor instead of green and purple. 

Nightwing was not going to like it if he got hurt, but the description of that terrifying battle in Metropolis had Robin completely on edge. He readied his arsenal of gadgets, using his lesser height to stay hidden between the fights, and started moving toward Luthor.

To his surprise, Rose Worth was beside him before he actually reached Luthor, doing a credible job of staying low, despite the staff in her hand. She tapped his shoulder, indicated Luthor's far side and disappeared into the chaos again. Well at least he wasn't going to be tangling with a Luthor mostly-alone. 

The shiny Luthor seemed to become aware of him moments before he could actually have tagged the armor with a solid electro-charged 'egg'. 

"No place for a child," Luthor snapped at the boy facing him. He focused his battlesuit to deliver a low-nerve disrupting charge at the child; maybe it would give him a good hostage when all was said and done.

"I'm not a child," Robin said as he dodged -- with little of Nightwing's grace but a great deal of speed; "I'm Robin." 

"One thing the Multiverse holds true: Robins make good corpses and hostages. I care less either way," Luthor said. "Your mentor and his need for children to surround his ego with!"

As Luthor was aiming up another shot, he stumbled hard, and the armor gave an ominous snap-crackle-hiss of power arcing in it… as Rose appeared behind him with her staff still wedged in a weak point.

Robin threw a Batarang for the opposite, exposed joint while he was still in motion, then aimed a freeze-rang for the power supply he could see. Rose levered against the staff, using Luthor's attempt to escape the pair of young fighters to wedge the armor further apart. The concentrated attack forced Luthor to call on reserve power to make a blinding flash-bang around the armor, trying to get away enough to pull on his teleportation.

Tempest, his attention drawn by the brilliant flash but not blinded //need to thank the sea gods for looking in the other direction for once//, threw the first thing at hand with all his strength past Robin's head. The discarded remnants of one of Savage's weapons made a solid connection mid-chest, further disorienting Luthor's attempt to escape.

That was all the opening Robin needed from there, flicking his bo staff out and open for a vaulting kick to Luthor's face. Rose was out of the way already //how'd she do that// and then she was following up with a strike that ended Luthor as an immediate threat.

With his target down, Robin could re-evaluate the battlefield. His eyes flicked from place to place, seeing that most of the fights were almost ended, almost all of the hired mooks down... and then there was the chaos where Vandal Savage and Deathstroke //when did he get out here?!// were fighting. He'd never really had to deal with Savage, and he was grateful for that as he watched that battle. Metahuman-strength against metahuman-strength, though Deathstroke (smaller and slighter, and that was a strange, _strange_ thought) was faster, and his massive sword was taking piece after piece out of Savage's arms, legs, and sides. 

"Any chance that will get him put in jail?" Rose asked idly as she saw where his attention had landed. "Or does it fall under some immortal clause?"

"Far as I know, Savage falls under 'can't actually be killed'," Robin answered, watching the fight continue. "Given what he's already survived. And if he can take Savage down, I don't think there's any current government that would be anything but relieved."

"Nuts," Rose said before going toward where Impulse was taking a breather. Robin shook his head; she really didn't like her dad.

Savage did not have the ability to retreat. He used every trick of combat he'd learned in his thousands of years to try and drive away his opponent long enough to get away. Just as he was sure he had pushed the mercenary back enough to break free, Deathstroke maneuvered at Flash-level speed. Tempest really didn't like that their uneasy ally had gone that far, but no one was really going to be surprised.

Arrowette had to turn aside, having looked, just in time to see the decapitation that ended Savage's threat. Empress moved to her side, offering support, and didn't complain when Superboy joined them, looking a little green. It was one thing to fight to disarm or knock out, but to actually see someone kill like that….

Impulse darted to them, vibrating one foot to buzz off a spray of blood on his boot, his face also a little sick. "Rob, I was looking, I don't see anywhere else I can help, is -- " 

"...no, I think you're right," Robin said, seeing the already tied-up hired mooks and low-level rogues. "Get the rest of our team, you and SB get them over to the Tower -- we don't need to still be here." //And I don't want any of them around that corpse... or to see how much 'Wing doesn't cope with this.// 

"Okay! I can do that!" Imp nodded, kissed Rose's cheek, and dashed away again, gathering up Young Justice to get them out. Somehow, Robin wound up carried by Superboy's TTK -- he probably should protest that, but it _was_ Kon.

+++

Slade felt a visceral satisfaction at having temporarily _killed_ Vandal Savage. If the damn heroes had any sense, they'd jettison the body into the sun. But he already knew that wasn't going to happen.

He looked to see the younger team had vacated the area of operations, and the Titans were doing a swift job of containment on the rogues and mooks that had been incapacitated. He automatically started checking on _his_ Titans, looking to see if they were injured. His little bird hadn't emerged yet from inside the compound, keeping his wariness up.

There was Logan, carting trussed bodies out to where some of the others were holding prisoners. Stone was fine, on his feet and -- by the tilt of his head -- talking to LEO of some stripe or another across a comm. But his little bird wasn't out, and neither was his Kid. He frowned, concerned, and started to walk back into the compound. He was only halfway there when she and Nightwing both appeared. Bruises and scrapes, more on her than him, though something about the way his Kid was moving... 

He kept moving towards them, and she shook her head, all amusement, and called out a mild, "We're _fine_. ...you look smug?" 

"Savage." He smirked. "Savaged, maybe."

Dick did his best not to groan at that, but Dinah had to do a mock-throwing motion at him as her eyes tracked his direction backward and saw the … mess.

"What?" he asked mildly. "It kept moving." 

Dick snorted at him, shaking his head. "Merlyn is a lot less trouble when you take the bow away, did you know? Have to remember to call home and find out what B did to annoy him, and when..." 

"It's B," Dinah said cheerfully. "He breathes. Plus, I think the whole League of Assassins hate him on general principle."

"A lot of people do," Slade muttered. "Merlyn, huh? Don't like running too close to that group; we've got our truce mostly. They stop pressuring me, I don't break them." He did look at Dinah a little more closely; he knew there was a deep grudge there now.

Dick flicked him a moment's wry smile for that first bit. "Yeah, that sounds like your version of a truce," he said affectionately, then headed to see what help he could be and where. 

"I was checking for bolt holes into and out of there. Nightwing swept for signs of Apokalips tech… found a little of it too. That answers how Luthor faked everyone out, I think." Dinah touched his arm just slightly, too used to having close contact with him after a fight like that. "Apparently Merlyn was set to fight me… they've noticed I'm running close to the Titans right now. And now that we hit Talia and Merlyn, putting him in custody, I've got to warn B to look for a major offensive from that side of the fence. And Batgirl, given their histories." 

Slade shifted to press into that touch, just a little, and nodded. Boom Tube tech would do a lot, yes. "Mmm," he muttered at the idea of Merlyn coming after his little bird, not best pleased. But the Kid had gotten to him first, so. Fine after all. "Yeah, probably wise. He's being useful at the moment, after all." 

Dinah snorted at that. "He's always useful if you know how to use his foibles." She looked all around, wrinkling her nose at the sight of so many heavies. She then started smiling as she realized just what had happened. "Titans and Young Justice… damn good job here today."

Her voice wasn't low, and Roy was working close enough to hear it. The way she sounded lifted his spirits even higher, and he was grinning by the time the team had everything grouped up and ready for transport.

Some of the others were walking a little taller, too, Slade noticed, to his satisfaction. 

+++ 

Bart skidded to a halt on the shores of Titans' Island, blinking in surprise at the open main door. Hadn't they left that closed? 

"Be at peace, young friends," Raven said, as she stepped clear of the entryway, flanked by a tall blond man with a jaw that looked very familiar.

Rose and Cissie both tensed, each of them in an arm, and Bart stared. That -- that was Raven, but not all gold, and who was the other? Superboy lit next to him, putting Robin on the ground, and at least now Robin was here. Bart noticed that Kon had half-placed Robin behind him too.

"...Raven? _Jericho_?" Robin asked, and Bart blinked a few times. That was Jericho? But that meant he was... Rose's brother? He looked down at her, wide eyed, and she gave him a shocked look back before she returned to watching the stranger. 

"You look like Robin, but… ahh. We did meet, once, after my friend's death," the blond said softly. He looked over the rest of them, but his eyes came back to Rose. "You are Ms. Worth's child?" he asked softly. "I wanted to meet you so much, before… before things went bad."

"It is good to see you, Robin," Raven said warmly. "Where are my teammates?" she asked.

"Cleaning up a mess," Robin answered, "they decided we'd done enough already. I don't think it should take too much longer for them to finish handing over the prisoners to Checkmate, and then they should be back, too." 

Cassie flew in, Empress in her hold, and dropped down beside the rest of them, eyeing the strangers warily. Bart moved over enough to pat her arm reassuringly and then went back to Rose, who was staring at the man in more than minor shock. "I -- you -- you knew about me? Wintergreen says _he_ didn't, but..." 

Joey looked abashed then. "My mother told me I must stay away, by your mother's choosing." He gave Raven a gentle squeeze on her shoulders, then slowly approached the white-haired girl. "You must look like her, except the hair."

"Of course," Raven told Robin, though she kept a careful eye on her… friend. //Enough to puzzle through later, on if there is more.// "You have your own team now. This is good." She looked at each one. "You are related to Troia?" she asked the Wonder. "While you… I remember you after Superman fell," she told Superboy.

"One and only Super Teen," Superboy said with a cocky grin.

"Yeah, I know Troia," Wonder Girl said very cautiously, though the woman did look like her 'cousin's' photos of Raven.

Rose blinked in surprise, watching Jericho come closer to her. His words made her smile, though. She loved the moments people spoke well of her mother, compared her to her. "I do -- everyone used to say so. Well. And the eyes. Those I got from _him_. You... look a lot like him too, though." 

Raven nodded, smiling at Cassie a little. "You would have to. I am Raven, and I am pleased to meet you. Your wariness is wise," she added, before she looked to Empress instead. "You are... quite gifted, I think, but I must apologize, I do not know you at all." 

"I'm Empress," she answered, "and thanks. How could you know me? I haven't been doing this all that long." 

"I got most of my looks from him, but my mother's eyes," Joey told his sister, holding his hands out to her, exuding his joy at meeting her. "I'm Joey, in case you need my name." He would not have been surprised if she'd only ever heard his cape-name. His father and talking were sometimes difficult.

Raven turned then to the archer, tipping her head. "Has Arsenal taken a partner?" That it made Cissie cough-splutter a lot was concerning, but Empress helped by patting the archer on the back.

"She's ours," Robin said, more firmly than he'd meant, but it was hard enough knowing Imp was pulled by the Titans from time to time. "And the one with Jericho's sister is Impulse, a relative of your Flash."

"I remember," Raven said, giving a small smile to Bart. "You are, or were, part of Arsenal's team. Is Mirage's child still well?"

"Yeah, she's swell!" Bart said. "Don't see her as much, but I try to zip by when I'm in the mood for food from down south!"

"Hi Joey," Rose replied, and then she reached out for his hands, taking them. "I -- have no idea how to deal with suddenly having an older brother, but if you give Bart trouble _we're_ going to have trouble. Other than that, I'm glad to meet you." 

Raven smiled, just a little, at the sharp tone of Robin's voice, though the edge in it was unpleasant. "I am glad to hear that. Is there any sense in remaining standing in this heat, when the Tower is always cool?" she asked them all, but she watched Robin. 

"...I remember you, and Imp remembers you," Robin replied thoughtfully, trying to decide on the best course of action. "I think we're fine to go on inside." 

"The Tower still knows me," Raven said, but she looked at Joey more fondly. "And knew certain questions to ask Jericho, to verify his identity. Cyborg was thorough in programming this one."

"He always had our safety at heart," Joey said, making himself give Rose space to adapt to all of this, rejoining Raven. He could not help but be protective of her, even as he ached for the harm done to his friends by his own hands.

Young Justice followed them in, wary but curious… and in need of drinks from the fight. Bart saw to that part, zipping to where Dolphin was with the babies as a detour.

"Raven?" he questioned.

"The Tower acknowledges her, but I do have Lian in scuba, should we need to exit," Dolphin promised him.

"Okay." He zipped to the kitchen to handle refreshments then.

Rose smiled at him as he zipped back in with the big tray full of drinks, and he grinned before he handed them all around. He stopped in front of -- her brother? -- with the last three on the tray. "Didn't know if you'd want water or lemonade, so here's both." 

"Thank you, Impulse," Joey said, and decided on the lemonade. 

Robin blinked, stared for a moment at finally actually really hearing Jericho, and he took a sip of lemonade before he looked across the room at him. "Jericho, sorry to be this rude, but... you never spoke, before. Nightwing said you couldn't..." 

Joey turned and smiled at the young Robin, even though he ached thinking of the one before him. Jason had been his friend, and so like Grant…. Joey had hoped the wild Robin would be saved where his brother could not have been.

"Dr. Fate was insistent that he would not assist in imperfection, and Raven… She was kind enough to bend to his reasoning instead of how her memory remembered my voice," Joey answered that. He signed the words as he spoke, revealing that proficiency that was so difficult to fake as an offering to allay suspicions.

"All I did, Jericho, was provide the energy," Raven chastised. "Dr Fate handled the worst of the crafting."

"...that's right, they did say that Manhunter was taking 'you' to Dr. Fate," Robin said after a few moments of checking his memory. "I'm glad that he could help you. Help you both?" 

Raven nodded. "Yes. Impulse, you remember the problems I was having with controlling my energies?" 

"Yeah, Chief mentioned them every so often," Bart agreed, then tipped his head curiously, "Why?" Arsenal's nickname that Damage used most had been adopted by all of the government-backed Titans.

"All of that extra energy I had went very nicely into the creation of new, stable bodies for Joseph and I." 

"That makes a lot of sense, magically." Empress stood and walked around both of them, trying to bring her shard of the Anti-Life into focus. It was hard, but she grasped it just as Secret reformed in the room. With freshly living bodies and a dead spirit as well, while Empress was experimenting with that part of her power, she could see the differences between them, could understand…. 

And she knew, given the right timing, the best conjunction of energy harmonics, that she could do for her friend what this pair had been given.

"Mon, that was big magic in their making but I see the Egyptian's touch, the Lord of Order," she told Robin as she let the Anti-Life slip away from her conscious mind.

Robin nodded, relaxing a little more for that Empress confirmed what Raven had said. "I know that takes work, Empress, nice job." 

"T-Jet: incoming," the Tower announced from the closest speakers. 

" _Really_ didn't take long," Superboy said, mostly entertained as he grinned over at Robin. 

"Probably Nightwing getting **him** away before someone found a reason to arrest him." That was Rose's opinion, and not a happy one.

"Or they left Arsenal there to deal with the law and got your dad out of there for those reasons," Bart said cheerfully, confirming to Joey just who was the 'him' his sister spoke so poorly of.

"Dad still being complicated?" Joey asked, pitching the question at Robin. "Also, how do I get to the bay? Who is on that team?" He wanted his father, but he didn't want to make his father choose between emotion and privacy.

"He excels at complicated," Robin agreed, frowning a little at just how true that was. "Nightwing and Arsenal, Troia, Cyborg and Changeling. Tempest -- used to be Aqualad? -- Flash and Argent. Deathstroke and Black Canary. I think the only ones you wouldn't know well are Argent and BC?" 

"And Dad? How well does he know them?"

Joey's innocent inquiry set Bart to laughing and almost choking on trying to stifle it. Even Rose had to cover her mouth, but Superboy and Wonder Girl both laughed loudly.

"One of them he knows real well," Robin said with a straight face. "He's been around for a lot of the other one being around too."

Jericho gave the laughing pair a long, level look. What in what he'd asked was funny, he had no idea, but if they were laughing at his father... Superboy's weight shifted a little, reacting to the _look_ in the stranger's eyes, but he didn't say anything, just dropped his eyes away. 

Wonder Girl quit chuckling at almost the same time, while Robin stepped in to try and smooth everything over. "As for the bay, it's," and he gave quick directions. 

"Thank you." He finished his drink, then looked at Raven.

"I will wait, Jericho," she said, carefully using his code name still. "If your father is choosing to be difficult, it would not be good for me to be near and feel the conflict."

"Of course, Raven," he said, understanding. "May I tell them… wait, Cyborg will already know, won't he?"

Raven smiled. "Sometimes, he keeps secrets," she told him mysteriously. That was enough for Joey to smile, then to start jogging to the bay to await his father.

++++

"Wilson," Cyborg called from the cockpit. "You're gonna want to be first off this jet, ya hear me?" he said as he maneuvered to bring the jet in.

"Why?" Slade asked, not that he would mind being out of the jet's small space. But why was Stone saying it? 

The group of Titans shifted in their seats, Nightwing especially looking from Vic's spot in the cockpit to where Slade was sitting -- nothing like settled -- with more than a touch of concern. 

"Can't you just extend some trust to me just once?" Vic demanded. "Be the first off, and I swear it won't be the worst thing you've ever done. Just looks like a project that spun out of all this is done… and it's only fair you get to reap it first."

Slade snorted, not bothering to point out that if he didn't trust Stone, most of the last few days would have gone very differently, and just nodded. A project finished, one that sprang out of this mess, and something he would be interested in? "All right, Stone." 

"Thank you," Vic said, all dry sarcasm, and touched the jet down on the landing He got them securely inside, and dropped the outside hatch and ramp. Slade went towards it with quick. sharp steps, and just as he went to take the last step, he froze. What he was seeing -- he hadn't dared to hope, still didn't, but he would swear he was seeing his son.

"Hello, father," Joey _said_ as he waited, all coiled up with knots of fear and worry, because what if his dad got dumb and ran? He wasn't known for handling emotions real well, after all. His hands had moved too, old habit despite the long… sleep? that had been forced on him.

"oh my god," Dinah whispered from behind him, having followed with her usual sense of protectiveness toward her lover.

That was enough to make Nightwing call a soft 'hold it' to everyone else. If Slade was freezing and Canary sounded like that... Vic was definitely right. 

Slade stared, running those tones against the last time he had heard his son's voice. It didn't sound at all the same, but... This was too much good, far too much good, and he wasn't sure he could believe it. He pushed himself to move again, crossing the distance between ~~Joey~~ this person and himself, all of his senses focused towards him. His eye flicked across him, taking in expression and a dozen mannerisms of stance and positioning, trying to breathe past the scent of the jet fuel to read _this_ scent instead. 

Joey held himself still, trying to stay as calm as he could. His scent was… unfamiliar/tinged with something that was his son. "Fate and Raven, they made me a body, said my soul never died," Joey told the man. "She's here, with the younger team, waiting… but I had to see you here, as fast as I could. Because I needed to tell you one thing, Dad… thank you. Thank you for making the choice I needed you to, to protect my friends."

"Joe," the murmur wasn't anything he'd meant to let out, soft and shocked and grateful. His senses weren't entirely certain, but that -- that was his son. He took another breath, took the last step forward, and pulled his son into his arms, tight without crushing, and breathed again. 

Joey wrapped his own arms tight around his father, holding on fiercely. "Dad… oh, dad…" This had him tearing up, and he had no shame for it. He loved his father, and knew that life had to have been ugly, just from a few off hand comments made by Fate.

"Give him a couple more moments, then we can go," Dinah murmured softly, almost choked up from where she was watching.

Slade held him, listening to his son's _voice_ , soft and intense, faint salt-scent of tears in the air -- not just from Joe, either -- and he kept hold for longer yet. The kids surely all wanted off the jet, but at this point he didn't care if they all came past. This was _Joe_ , alive and whole and here. Everything else could just wait. 

Dinah and Dick… without conscious coordination… funneled everyone off and away from where Joe had been waiting, pointing at the other bay exit. Vic even went so far as to pick up the curious green meerkat, carrying him with so the Wilsons could have their moment. Time for them all would be later… and right now the Witch was waiting.

Vic didn't deny just how happy that part of it made him; they'd always had a unique attachment.

"They'll find us," Dinah murmured softly to Dick as the others had cleared out.

Dick nodded, agreeing with her, and headed for the same door they'd sent everyone else through. If anyone deserved some time and privacy right now, it was Slade and Joe. Joe, alive. Once out in the hallways, he let himself turn a series of flips and twists -- despite how tired he was -- to burn off some of his shocked delight. 

Dinah watched him in amusement, then sighed because she spotted her Boy-o waiting. "I am certain Fate… Nabu… did it all proper, Boy-o." She grabbed him and hugged him so tight.

"Yeah, I get that… was just waiting for you," he replied, a weak lie and they both knew it. But if Di said it was alright, then it had to be, because she didn't lie to him. Still, he felt a surge of joy again, for the respect she showed the culture he had grown up in.

Dick came back to them from the other end of the hall, leaning his head against Roy's shoulder as he slung an arm around his waist to hold on. 

Slade finally lifted his head from his son's shoulder, shifting just enough to look at his face. "I missed you, son." Understatement of the decade, probably, but. 

Joey shook his head. "Really don't remember anything between 'no more pain' and the Martian Manhunter, but… Dr Fate said it has been a long time. Raven could only tell me how many years she thinks she had before she went journeying." Joey gave him a lopsided smile, all kid and playful. "And I got to meet my sister first thing! That was wonderful!"

"You -- oh, of _course_ she knew," Slade said, shocked and then growling. He should have known that Adeline would know. And that she would side with Lili -- Lili'd been right, after all, Joe was more than enough proof. His arm tightened around his son again. "What do you think of her?" 

"Massive mad-on against you," Joe said cheerfully. "I'll work on that." He then pulled back enough to really look at his father, at his eye and jaw and then he shook his head. "I'm really real, Tower confirmed even, Dad… and I need you to help me adjust."

"She has plenty of reason," Slade said, shaking his head a little at that 'I'll work on that'. He was making a little headway, but Joe didn't know the situation nearly well enough to stick his head into it. "She adores Wintergreen, though. And of course I'm going to help you." 

Joey shifted to throw his arm around his father's ribs so they could go walk somewhere that smelled less like fuel. "Godfather is still around then? He's ancient, and has been my whole life!"

Slade barked a laugh, shaking his head as they started to move. "Your godfather was holding out on us all... but with a lot of reason. He inherited a piece of magic, but he wasn't sure it would actually do what he was told. And there wasn't any way to test it that wasn't him... dying." He still couldn't actually speak of that evenly. "But old age did finally catch up with him, and now he looks all of thirty-five or so. Keeps swearing he's not going to let me turn his hair white again, when it's not my fault anyway." 

"I remember him telling us a story, a long time ago, about you turning it all white on your last trip with him before you met mom," Joey said, even as he ran that through his head. His godfather young? Not the kindly old man, or the flirtatious silver fox? What?

"Which was all lies," Slade said, but amused and soft. "He turned his hair white all on his own, it still had color before he left for South Africa, and I was in the US through all of that." 

Joey laughed at that, a soft and wonderful sound instead of the harsh grating noise that he'd sometimes let escape his damaged throat. "I wonder what he'd retort to that," Joey teased his father. "Now… more seriously, why was Robin's team laughing about who was on the team that I did not know well?"

"Were they?" Slade smiled to himself, slow and amused, and then actually answered. "Because I've been involved with Black Canary -- Dinah -- for the last couple of years. Or so. Time is kind of hard to measure, even for me, when the people around you the most don't really age that much." 

Joey's jaw all but dropped open. "Roy's Dinah, the spoil-his kid-rotten woman that was with Green Arrow?" Joey asked for clarification, and all that took was the smugness in Slade's face. "No wonder they were laughing. Maybe I should see if Raven and I are in our right dimension…." he teased. "She's not your type from all I ever saw. More the kind godfather hit on."

Slade laughed at that, low and deep and rich, and he hugged his son's waist for a moment. "She puts on a gorgeous blonde bombshell act, doesn't she?" He asked, not waiting for an answer before he said, quieter, "Under it, there's as strong a tempered steel as your mother's, and as sharp." 

Joey considered that, then nodded once. "I'll keep that in mind." //And not flirt like I once would have, since I know she's yours.// "Anything you think I need to know now, to help Raven and I both stand our ground around our teammates?"

Slade contemplated that question for a few long moments, humming to himself as they went down the stairs that everyone else _hadn't_ taken. "We've been de-fanging another Crisis, the past few weeks." He went on from there, telling him the important pieces of the mess. 

Joe walked slowly, letting his mind stretch and remember all the ways to take in information, hold it, analyze it… so he could keep Raven safe. Her first, then his family and friends. Nothing was going to screw up this second chance he'd been given.

++++

Vic led the way to the den the younger team was in… and he was the one that scooped Raven off the couch and into a glad hug first. "Heya Witch; 'bout time you got back!" 

Gar, who'd been deposited partway down to the den, bounced over as a hyper wallaby, waiting for his turn.

Raven hugged him back, quiet and pleased, then reached out for Garfield. "Hello, Victor. Hello, Garfield. I would not be, had Doctor Fate not found such an excellent use for the energy I was burdened with... but I am very glad that he did." 

"Me too, Witch. Me too." Vic stole a kiss on her cheek, then let Gar take her attention, unsurprised to see him become her namesake in her hands.

"Missed you, Rae," he told her. "So much." He then shifted to a small cat so he could purr for her.

She shifted him in her arms, moving him to the crook of one so that she had her other arm free. The press of their emotions, glad and bright -- and tired, they were both tired -- was another, long-familiar comfort. 

Robin stood up, making a quiet noise, and beckoned to his team to bring them out of the room and off into another den. He'd heard just enough from Nightwing to know that the Titans were going to need time. 

Wonder Girl nodded, and they followed Bart… who took them to one of the game rooms. Being tired didn't always mean able to rest, and the video consoles could give them a chance to just relax.

Donna almost had tears in her eyes, but she waited a long moment before actually going in, long enough for everyone from Robin's team to leave. Tempest waited with her, but he was thinking of the kids already.

"I never knew her so well," he said. "You and Stoplight and Featherhead going to be okay?" He looked for Flash, but that one had zipped off already to his wife. "I can stay up here… but Bowhead isn't likely to be of a mind to have his little girl up here right away. Dolphin could use me."

"Go… take care of the babies," Donna told him before steeling herself to go in and see her 'sister'. If only Koriand'r were home!

He nodded and brushed a hand over her shoulder, then headed for the pool level. 

Raven turned her head, feeling Donna's mingled joy and longing, and she let go of Victor to reach out for Donna. Her shields were not at their best, but Dr. Fate had helped her a great deal, and all of her Titans would need the contact, the reassurance that she was truly there. She needed the reassurance that they were, if she were being honest with herself. 

"Oh Raven!" Donna tucked in on that side, trapping Gar right where he wanted to be, and letting Vic fold his big arms around them all. "You're home, and you brought Joey… oh how can this day be anything but happy?!"

Gar growled and bit her bicep, claws kneading for a moment. "You're not normally the one that's that dumb, what have you let us in for now?!"

Vic and Donna and Raven all looked down at him, and slowly started to laugh as one. "I think Slade Wilson will make anything that comes have a very bad day," Donna told him.

"What he doesn't get," Black Canary said, "I'll make certain I do… even if I have to call the League and the JSA." She swatted Roy's backside, grinned at Dick. "Go on and enjoy your miracle, boys. Vic, you don't mind me settling in on monitor while I doctor my bruises, do you? I am serious; I will scream both teams up and that way you can all rest and be together."

Vic looked vaguely stunned… and then he nodded. "Deal, Canary… full aid kit in there, third cubby by the door."

She nodded, flashed Raven a bright smile, then went on to make sure the Titans stayed unbothered.

Gar nodded in satisfaction, though he gave Canary's disappearing body a startled look. For League, she was actually pretty awesome. Then again, she'd have had to be, for Slade to be so crazy about her. 

Roy padded closer, looking at Rae warily for a moment, but Rae always did good work, and she looked right. "Hey, Rae," he said softly, and then Dick slipped between them and nudged at Donna, demanding to be let into the hug. 

"Hello Roy… Richard." Raven was unsurprised when Victor and Donna moved to be behind her while Gar scrambled up to a shoulder. That let Dick get a full hug from Raven. He had forgotten how much of a balm she was on his soul when it was jagged and in shreds, but he could feel it already, smoothing the work Slade had begun with him.

~Here… not alone… not even just me~ brushed across Dick's mind, his heart, as Raven let him lean into her empathic presence.

~Rae,~ he murmured back as best he could, though her flicker of surprise made him lift his head and look at her, trying to figure out what that meant, but then he just laid his cheek back against her hair. 

Raven gave him what he needed, and was not bothered when Vic managed to coax everyone into a pile of cushions. They needed this… god, did they ever! Raven was back, Joe was back, and the Crisis might even go away now.

Dick curled up against her, with Roy stretched behind his shoulders, Vic on Roy's other side, and Donna draped along him, her hand stretched over onto Raven. That was how they were when motion at the door struck him, but it was Slade, and with Slade would be Joey. He lifted his head for that, reaching out with one arm for Joey. Slade might stay, might not, but _Joey_ , alive and smiling and real. 

Gar had done the cutest head tilt and turn, sizing up the pile, before deciding he could be a gecko on Raven's rack and be content… and she was willing to indulge that, even if it meant Dick had to put up with little lizard claws playing with his hair.

"I think I just got diabetes," Slade said in his low, deadpan voice. "Catch up with you later, Joe… need to get a hold of your godfather, and check in on the younger crowd." He looked at his gear. "After a clean up."

"Stop by medical and scrape some of it off for testing?" Vic asked. "Just in case, for Damage… and Featherhead here."

"Don't remind me," Roy groaned, even as he settled more into the Titans' pile. He really hated being reminded both he and his favorite kid-Titan were tied into Savage's life.

"Oh, shove off, Slade," Dick said, amused at him -- and more amused by the way that Joey looked down and wrinkled his nose at the half-dried and mostly-dried blood that had transferred onto his clothes. 

"Dick, I'm going to go raid your clothes," Joe said, and suddenly everyone but Raven was staring at him. 

Raven bit into her lip at the sudden, powerful wash of shock and joy that suddenly shoved through her from all of them, and tightened her arm on Richard. 

Slade relished that shock, loved seeing it writ all over their faces... except Vic, who must have been monitoring the tower. He was willing to leave them then, knowing Joey was safe… it pulsed through his brain that this had to be a dream, or prelude to a fall or a trap. For once, he decided his brain could do the suggested shoving off, and went to get clean so he could make his rounds. He even swung by medical as asked.

In the den, Donna was staring at Joey, and then she did just give in and cry the happy tears, reaching for him. They all needed to be clean, so a little more grunge did not bother her at all. She wanted to kiss their lost Titan, and that was not a demand anyone denied.

Joey was no exception to that, and he crossed over to crouch down next to Donna, reaching to wipe her tears with his thumb even as he leaned in that little more to kiss her. 

"We're all getting one of those, right? Except Dick. He doesn't get one like that," Roy said, teasing his lover… because of Slade and their involvement.

"But you get those whenever you want," Gar said, deliberately missing that it was a Joey kiss he wanted.

"...I was talking to Joe, Gar, not Donna-girl," Roy said, before he caught Vic's glare. He shrugged a little, half-sheepish 'sorry', and went back to waiting for Donna to let go of Joey. 

//Why wouldn't I -- something strange there,// Joey decided to chase it later, even as he signed a 'sure' at Roy with his free hand. 

"Hedonist," Gar teased Roy, but he was content to stay nestled where he was. 

Donna finally broke the kiss, and she was smiling so brightly. Ever since Dick and Roy had come with their awful dreams, she'd been so scared they'd fail. Now, though, it looked like maybe they'd gained so much.

"I'm sorry you boys had those dreams, for the effect on each of you," she said. "But it led to this! And this is wonderful!"

"It sure is," Dick agreed softly, reaching to squeeze Donna's hand while he watched Roy shifting to met Joey for a kiss that was just as long and just as thorough. Both of them were utterly gorgeous, and Roy looked so delightedly relieved... he couldn't do anything but smile, watching them. But Roy was totally right, he wasn't about to kiss Joey when he'd been falling into bed ~~couch, roof, wall~~ with Slade for years. 

Vic was next… and the fact Gar started twitching restlessly was not lost on any of them as Vic drug that one out just as long. When they broke, Joey got an impish smile on his face, obeyed the no-kissing-Dick because Dick had not protested, and claimed the pair of lips there he most hungered to kiss. Donna and Vic and Roy could only stare as Raven brought her hands up into Joey's hair and kissed back.

And because it was Raven, they all felt the muted, restrained desire between the pair.

That was just as right as it could be, and the Titans all settled in to just be at peace for a change.

++++

"People, there's a fast ship moving in-bound according to the outer satellites Gee Ell placed for us," Vic said through the tower. "Senior Titans, better be prepared; it looks Tamaranean."

Slade looked less than impressed… but not murderous.

"So she did receive my message," Raven said calmly.

"Your message?" Roy asked, but it was lost in the shuffle as the elder Titans made haste to get up to the bay.

The little ship came to a stop in the bay and the hatch didn't even get fully cleared before Kory was throwing herself out of the ship, looking haunted and worried… and then she came to a stop.

//Dick… Roy… Donna… Garth… Vic… Gar… Raven? JOEY?//

"Fleetfeet's not leaving his city much," Roy drawled as he watched the confusion spreading in Kory's eyes, her body lines… and her hair. It was almost crackling with confusion. "For reasons you may have guessed, if you had a nasty dream."

"Oh!" Kory lifted a hand to cover her lips, stunned to know she was not the sole bearer of such news. That little gesture was more than enough for the others to mob her, holding her safe in their hugs as she adjusted to the idea she wasn't too late… and that things were not as bad as she had feared.

++++

Zatanna sat with her head bowed, hiding the tears she could not stop. She had agreed to undo the magic she had created on others, though she was still so confused. How had she ever betrayed Bruce? She loved Bruce, had for longer than she'd been a hero! Now, though, her magic was dulled, tied off from her reach for the first time in her adult life.

"Heard you were having trouble, ducks," came a gravelly, smoke-hoarsened voice behind her. She turned to see John Constantine in the room with her, able to at least see the effect of a portal closing.

"I don't see how I could have," she told him, not even caring how he knew.

"Seems to me like your friends ought to have looked at the bigger picture," he said as he lit a new cigarette. "There's a Lord of Order on that team, and you coming down from Arion's own line, but no one wondered how this whole thing got manipulated?" He shook his head as he puffed out the first drag.

Zatanna's spine went rigid. "Chaos?"

Constantine just smiled and held his hand out to her. It was just the kind of trouble he wanted in his life right now, and she was damn good company, long as she didn't get too bitchy with Chas. Let the sanctimonious creeps think they had their little Crisis rolled up in a ball. Zee and he would get to the bottom of the real conspiracy.

She didn't hesitate more than a moment. She had to know _how_ she could ever have abused the power so far, and John was her best hope.

++++

Even Slade had come to finally hear how this whole event had set off, though he sat as far from Koriand'r as he could. That led to the quandary of where to sit for Dick, but Roy solved that by just tugging him down in one of the bean bags in the middle of the room. Dinah was sitting on Slade's lap, giving him a focus that was anything but the Princess.

Bart zipped in, finally, with his girlfriend, and settled in the big corner section of the wraparound sofa. With everyone that had been affected by the dreams present, and her team, Raven rose from Joey's side to speak to them.

"A facet none of you could see was a war within Olympus," Raven said, which instantly set Donna on edge. "Under the new regime, Apollo, the god of prophetic visions, was going to lose power. You did see that that Titans of Myth were involved, another factor Apollo loathed." 

"This is all coming back to you, Donna-girl," Roy called to her, watching as Kory kept an arm around Donna to keep her sitting.

"So it is," Donna said in a disapproving tone.

"Apollo could not interfere with his own destiny through the mortal plane, but I was not on the mortal plane at that point," Raven continued. "There are rules concerning warning people of their own death, so I could not go through you, Donna. But I could reach others." She faced Bart. "You, my young friend, were the wildcard I chose. I knew more of you than I truly knew you, but your team bore the brunt of this as heavily as my own." She looked at Slade. "You were my risk. I could clearly see in that which Apollo gave me that my people's spirits were involved. But I prayed to Azar that you would keep control long enough to find help, and so you did." She looked at Dick. "There was never any choice, when it came to you, as painful as the dreams were going to be; that tie is still there. But I could shunt it to Roy as well, for you two work best as a team to overcome obstacles," she concluded.

Bart blinked at her, shaking his head a little, but he tugged Rose a little closer. "It.... it was pretty terrifying, but... we stopped it," he decided that was all he was saying at the moment. 

Slade's mouth twisted, just a little, but he nodded once, slow. "Pretty sure your prayers helped, girl. Least I was in the right place at the right time to get that help. Troy, can't you do _something_ about your damned gods?" 

They'd been making nuisances of themselves the **last** time Joe was in danger... 

Dick... breathed out a sigh, reaching one hand out for Raven. He -- there'd been so much, and it had hurt *so* badly, but... Bart was right. And that she'd made sure it went to Roy, too... at least he hadn't been alone with it, those first few hours. "Not sure if I wanna say 'thank you' or throw something at you for shoving that into Featherhead, too," he admitted. 

"I'll say thank you, then, even if it hurt like hell… and yeah, Rae, I want you to dim those emotions for me," Roy said, shuddering over his memories of Lian in danger, of nearly dying without Di ever coming to him, of losing Dick for what felt like forever.

Raven rested a hand on Dick's hair as she stood near him. "You never should have been alone," she told Dick, even as she nodded slightly to Roy. 

"I'll go talk to Diana tomorrow, so we can handle this," Donna promised. "Just because we fixed the earth-side of things doesn't mean Olympus is safe yet."

Dinah had pressed into Slade at Raven's words, and was holding on to him tightly. If he had been alone when it hit? She wasn't sure he would have gotten help quick enough.

"And me?" Kory asked.

Raven turned to smile at her, that tight, sad expression. "When we have shared so much?" she questioned. She left Dick and was pulled down into the cuddle pile of Donna and Kory. 

Dinah nuzzled at Slade's throat. "Going to be interesting, watching out for how it all goes now," she murmured. "But I'm damn glad I didn't lose you… and that the Titans are as good as they are." She said that last to the rest of the room, showing her pride in how far the junior team had come.

Slade shifted, pulling her a little closer. "Yes," he agreed quietly, looking up at the kids -- not kids, but they were always going to be the same age as his own kids. One of whom, thank gods he didn't bother to believe in, he had back. And the other... well, between Dinah, Wintergreen, and his own guilt, he was going to have to try to mend some of what he'd shattered with Rose. "So am I." 

"Thanks Di… and Slade." Roy took a deep breath, basking in the praise for his team. He chose to ignore the double takes from all the rest of his team for him acknowledging Slade's words.

Vic stretched, running his fingers through the fur of his best friend, currently trying on a Pallas Cat form. "Rae, much as I am glad I didn't get hit with the dream, thanks, witch. It's nice to stop something before it really gets snowballin'," he told her.

" **Amen** to that," Dick said, a little louder than he meant to be. But... even trying to focus past the wreckage of his life, having to step out of his life in the 'Haven before the trap could close around him... being able to get in front of this, to head off the worst of the losses and pain... it was worth it. 

Wasn't that what all -- well, most, he amended the thought with a wry aside Slade's way -- of them in this room had put the costumes on for, after all?


End file.
